


He Should Be

by AZGirl



Series: Whumptober 2020 [4]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Angst, Family, Friendship, Gen, Post-Season/Series Finale, Whumptober 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-22
Updated: 2020-10-22
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:49:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27154073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AZGirl/pseuds/AZGirl
Summary: It had been several weeks, and he still felt as if he were going through some kind of withdrawal. A post-series finale story for Whumptober 2020.
Series: Whumptober 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1952908
Comments: 4
Kudos: 23





	He Should Be

**Author's Note:**

> This is another in my limited series of Whumptober fics for 2020. This time I’m filling the prompt for Day 22: Withdrawal.

**ooooooo**

“There are friendships imprinted on our hearts that will never be diminished by time and distance.” ~~~~~ Dodinsky

**ooooooo**

It’s just another Friday morning as he’s driving his car along the highway on his way to the office.

It’s almost the weekend, and he should be happy.

The sun is shining. The clouds, what few there were, were fluffy and white against a backdrop of bright blue sky. Not a hint of rain, and only a light breeze if the slight swaying of the trees’ leaves and limbs was any indication. It’s another beautiful day in Paradise.

He should be happy to be driving his car, but he’s not.

For so many years, he’d been relegated to the passenger seat of his own car and forced to be a witness to a lunatic driving it. Years of praying that said lunatic wouldn’t get them killed driving his car. Years of arguments about reckless driving and violating likely tens of thousands of traffic laws.

He should be happy to be able to safely drive somewhere, but it’s not quite that simple.

These days, unless a life is in imminent danger, he follows the laws of the road as is his duty. Lately, he’s not only been missing the maniac who used to drive them everywhere, but the insane driving the man used to do. It feels as if it takes ten times longer to get anywhere, which is probably not exaggerating things by much.

And the quiet inside the car is starting to annoy him too. Even with the stereo turned on, it’s too quiet.

Reckless driving wasn’t the only thing they used to argue about. One of the first arguments they’d had in the car had been about the need to apologize for getting someone shot. Back then, after an apology had been given, he’d said that “acceptance was pending.” He honestly couldn’t remember now if he’d ever formally accepted that apology. There were also the countless arguments about police procedure – or the lack thereof.

He should be happy there were no more arguments, that he could hear himself think, but he wasn’t.

As crazy as it sounded in his head, he missed it – all of it. He couldn’t help it if he tried, which he hadn’t. More importantly, he missed the reckless-driving, argument-inducing, maniac best friend and brother of his named Steve McGarrett.

It had been several weeks since Steve had left the islands, and he still felt as if he were going through some kind of withdrawal from no longer being in the man’s daily orbit.

The first days had been the worst.

Once again being the only driver of his car had been an adjustment for him. He’d actually gotten used to basically being chauffeured around nearly everywhere due to Steve’s control issues and needing to be in the driver’s seat. He’d learned to live with it, and despite the too-often reckless driving, he’d begun to like, even prefer not having to drive – not that he’d ever admit to that fact, even on pain of death.

Recently, he’d been reminded how much of a drag it was to drive yourself everywhere. Dealing with traffic and not being able to enjoy the scenery were definitely drawbacks.

He’d even allowed himself to suffer knowing, almost pitying, looks from his teammates when he’d handed over his keys to let one of them drive his car. It had been a bad idea.

Someone other than Steve driving had disturbed him so much, he’d decided to go cold turkey after that. Now, unless absolutely necessary, he was the only one to drive his car.

Something similar had happened related to the reckless driving. He didn’t miss that so much that he started driving like Steve, but occasionally he did things the way his friend had just to satisfy that itch he sometimes got to leave the rules of the road behind for a few moments.

The most pathetic manifestation of his withdrawal symptoms in missing how things used to be when Steve had been around was the time he’d purposely started an argument with Tani. She had a similar temperament to Steve’s and always verbally gave as good as she got, but she hadn’t deserved him being a dick to her just to recapture the essence of something he was missing because his best friend wasn’t around anymore. So ashamed of his behavior, he’d apologized unreservedly and gave her a gift certificate to La Mariana with enough money on it for a generous out night for two.

As the days, and now weeks, have passed, he’s beginning to learn how to deal with the Steve-shaped hole in his life. He’s managed to open up about how he’s missing he brother, and the subject no longer seems to be the taboo it had once been the first days after Steve left the islands. It’s helped; it truly has helped to remember the impact the man has had on all of their lives.

Slowly but surely the car no longer seems as quiet, and he’s beginning to enjoy driving himself around.

That doesn’t mean he doesn’t miss his best friend and brother with every fiber of his being, it just means he’s learning to accept the physical distance between them and that they’ll be back together one day in the future.

He should be happy his heart isn’t hurting as much anymore, but how can he be happy about his friend being so far away?

In all of the time he’s been going through withdrawals of everything Steve-related in his life, he’s been respecting the man’s need for radio silence.

At times he’s imagined Steve has been going through withdrawals similar to his over the past weeks. Whether or not that’s the case, he doesn’t think he can hold out for much longer. His heart is heavy with the need to hear Steve’s voice again, to make sure he’s doing as well as possible under the circumstances.

As he drives, he glimpses the ocean now and then, and goes through the pros and cons of contacting Steve sometime soon. The con that makes him hesitate the most is what would happen if they couldn’t remain in regular contact.

Would he have to go through withdrawal over and over again? Did he care? Could he live with that?

A ringtone he hadn’t heard in far too long suddenly began filling the interior of his car, and he couldn’t help the big grin which erupted on his face or the jolt of happiness that zinged throughout his body.

He spotted a place to safely pull over and answered his phone.

“Steve! I was just thinking about you. How are ya?”

Steve laughed. “I was just thinking about you too, Danno.”

He shouldn’t be happy to hear that stupid nickname, but he is. He’s most definitely happy to hear his best friend’s voice.

Danny grinned and said, “I’ve missed you too, but don’t think I didn’t notice you didn’t answer my question.”

Steve chuckled. “I’ve missed you, brother.”

“Me too, man. Now spill.”

ooooooo

**_The end._ **

**ooooooo**

**Author's Note:**

> As Election Day in the U.S. draws nearer, I urge you to research the issues most important to you and select the candidate that best represents your views, regardless of political affiliation. I also encourage to you educate yourself about the other items on your ballot before voting on them. Every vote counts. 
> 
> Many thanks to Celticgal1041 for proofing. Any remaining mistakes are my fault. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> *Please do not repost or use this or any of my other works on another site or app without my knowledge or consent. FanFiction and Archive of Our Own are the only two sites (as AZGirl on both) where my fiction should be posted. Thank you!


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